Göteborg City Library highlights imprisoned authors
20 years ago Dawit Isaak was captured. November 15 is Prison Writers’ Day. At the City Library, attention is drawn to guests and conversations about the lives of Dawit Isaacs and other captured journalists in Eritrea.
In September 2001, the Eritrean regime shut down all independent media and arrested journalists and cultural workers demanding freedom of expression and human rights. One of them is the Gothenburger Dawit Isaak.
It is 20 years and today some of them are dead, others are still in prison and some have fled the country.
A blow for freedom of speech
On Imprisoned Writers’ Day, 15 November, the City Library invites guests to focus on the situation of freedom of expression in Eritrea today and the lives of captured journalists.
- Despite the fact that two decades have passed since all these people were imprisoned, the Eritrean government has still not commented on what happened to them. We want to highlight these ongoing human rights violations and strike a blow for freedom of expression, says Martin Holmquist, program coordinator at the City Library.
The conversation at the City Library is a collaboration with Swedish PEN, Författarcentrum Väst, Göteborgs Litteraturhus and Bokmässan.